As the president and CEO of solar company Independent Energy Hawaii, Desta Rudolph said one of his main day-to-day responsibilities is to “make sure that the team is pointed in the right direction and focused on the right things.”
And for Rudolph, that means keeping the customer’s best interest top-of-mind through open communication and quality installations. It was those values, he said, that drove him and his father, James Rudolph, to launch Independent Energy in 2020.
The company specializes in solar installations and smart home upgrades, and provides service and maintenance. Rudolph said most of its business — about 80% — is residential, but that its commercial sector is growing.
“Commercial business is booming and it’s only getting bigger,” he said. “We’re really looking to grow that area of our business throughout the rest of this year and into next year.”
In addition to prioritizing customer service, Rudolph said he also strives to “create a great workplace” for employees. Independent Energy Hawaii currently has 20 employees, and it has been named one of Pacific Business News’ Best Workplaces in both 2023 and 2024.
Last year, Rudolph, who’s just 26, was also among PBN’s Inno Under 25 honorees, which recognizes emerging innovative leaders under the age of 25.
How do you maintain your company’s core values?
One thing I've been able to do to guarantee that [the company upholds the] standards is make it a process — make it something that is tracked and reviewed and constantly brought up, whether that be on the sales side, project management, or the installers. Something that we say frequently to every member of our company is, let's approach this job as if it were your uncle's house or your parents’ house. How are you going to install these solar panels to make them look the best? How are we going to design it on the sales side to make the most sense for them?
Another way … is through hiring. You really need the right people. What we found is that when we have these expectations of our team and we have this shared culture, we haven't had to fire anybody. … Our employee retention is amazing and I love to have that. As an employer, I want to provide opportunities for my employees as long as they want to work for me. And I don't want to have to hire and fire and hire and fire. Turnover kills companies.
Tell me about your approach to finding and retaining workers.
Most of our employees come from referrals from other employees. We've only hired about 10% of our people from job ads. The rest come from word-of-mouth. … Benefits are so important for me personally, and so it's something that we give to all of our employees. We're proud to have 401(k)s with 4% matching, we have great health care from HMSA that includes dental and vision. We have 11 paid holidays. We even recently had a week-long summer break. … We try to give employees clear deliverables, clear roles and responsibilities. And we want to give them the best chances to succeed in their roles, and give them the tools to do that. We have lots of training guides and videos. We are ABC [Associated Builders and Contractors] program members, which is a trade school program run at [Honolulu Community College]. We sponsor our field employees to get their journeyman’s license and further their education.
What are some trends you’re seeing in the solar industry right now?
The overall market was a little bit slower, but because of our referrals, we've actually had the busiest months that we've ever had in business. A big trend for us right now is with all of these rolling outages, people are adding batteries onto their home for the sole goal of having power during an outage. Every time we have a power outage, customers are wanting that security that I'm going to be able to keep my lights on, keep my fridge running, keep my Wi-Fi on. It's been a really busy month because of all of these outages.
What has been your strategy in growing the company over the years?
We build relationships [with customers]. … It's always been important to us to get customer feedback, whether it be good or bad, and use that in building the business. Our customers are our biggest resource. They sell the most jobs for us through word-of-mouth and referrals. … I'm not a growth-focused CEO — I don't have a revenue number that I impose on my team or a percentage of growth that I want per year for my team. Our focus is more on refining our product and our service and really nailing down what we do. And what we found is that when you do that, the growth has been very much organic and natural. … My biggest priority for my company is creating a service so good that people can't help but tell their friends and family about it.
Independent Energy Hawaii
Desta Rudolph, president and CEO
Address: 1200 Ala Moana Blvd. #380, Honolulu, HI 96814
Phone: 808-460-6015
Website: independentenergyhawaii.com
